In case you haven't noticed, I took a little break from blogging the past couple of weeks. Not for any real reason except that I chose not to blog. I chose to do something else on Monday nights. Nothing exciting, just something different.
The past two weeks have really given me time to think and reflect. This past week especially as I've had a lot of alone time.
While I've had no grand revelations or anything of the sort, the time alone has been good for me. It has given me opportunity to do things I've not done in a while or at all. For instance, inviting my mom over for dinner and spending quality time with her. Or like making Indian food for dinner this evening.
The time alone has given me plenty to think about, especially about my choices. A lot about what I write about in these "Manic Monday" posts is about choosing to find the good and positive things around us on Mondays (or any day, really). For the most part, I follow my own advice - I consistently try to see the beauty that surrounds me.
But there is more to choice than simply finding the beautiful in life.
The Bible describes what the life of a spirit-filled Jesus follower looks like in several different passages. Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives the picture of one who loves, is kind, gentle, patient, faithful, good. Someone who doesn't get easily angered or keep a long list of wrongs.
This person should be consistently choosing to be...
selfless
kind
patient
gentle
faithful
good
All things (and more) I've failed to choose over and over again. Especially in the relationships that matter most to me.
And that makes me sad.
Yet I want this realization to make me more than sad! I want my heart to be broken so that I no longer continue making selfish choices. I want the Holy Spirit to fill me so full of Him that I ooze patience, kindness, and goodness. That love is the center of all that I am.
Funny thing is, I have to choose to allow the Holy Spirit to work in me. Each and every day as situations arise, it's my choice how I'll respond. Just as fruit cannot grow without first being planted, then watered, and even pruned, neither can I produce the fruit of the Spirit until I've been planted and given the ability to grow.
So today I choose to once again allow the Holy Spirit to work in me. To respond with kindness and goodness rather than anger. To be patient even when my patience is running thin. To forgive and forget, or at least, not throw it back in someone's face.
Do you think allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life is a choice? If so, how has He been working in your life lately?